This page contains activities that correspond to the agenda for the Mountain Field Trip. Complete each day's activities as outlined below in your World Dynamics Interactive Notebooks. As a general rule, be detailed, thoughtful, and complete in your responses.
Complete the following writing prompts in your interactive notebook. Each response should be at least a full notebook page.
Do you think you would like attending Barton College? Why or why not? What aspects of the college do you find interesting, unique, or otherwise appealing?
What difficulties do you think you might face attending college? What resources are available at Barton College to help you overcome these difficulties?
What skills do you think it takes to be successful in college? Which of these skills do you think you already have? Which do you lack? What can you do now to make sure you develop the skills you need and become college-ready?
[ Day 2 -- 10.17.2013 ]
Read the following information and quotes about transcendentalism:
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers the following overview of transcendentalism: “Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson...the transcendentalists operated with the sense that a new era was at hand. They were critics of their contemporary society for its unthinking conformity, and urged that each person find, in Emerson's words, ‘an original relation to the universe.’ Emerson and Thoreau sought this relation in solitude amidst nature, and in their writing” (Goodman).
Consider also these quotations from “Nature,” an essay by Emerson that is one of the founding documents of transcendentalism:
“The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence."
“The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food.”
“Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear.”
“Standing on the bare ground,-- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”
Browse through the websites and Google Image results for the following locations. As you do so, think about how they might relate to the ideas of transcendentalism. What is it about sights like these that was so inspiring to writers like Emerson and Thoreau?
Choose one image from each site to use as the basis for a response to one of the prompts below. Choose a different prompt for each location.
Prompt 1: Sensory poem -- Pick one moment of your encounter with nature that left an impression on your for some reason. Write a poem that captures the essence of this moment by including as much concrete sensory detail as possible -- what you saw, touched, heard, smelled, and even tasted. Your poem may take any form you wish; the only requirement is that it be at least 20 lines in length.
Prompt 2: Transcendentalism journal -- In chapter one of Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes that nature has the power to create “perfect exhilaration” in those who observe it, making them “glad to the brink of fear.” Do you agree with Emerson’s comments? Were you exhilarated? Glad? Even fearful? In a journal-style entry, describe in detail the thoughts and emotions you experienced throughout your contact with the natural world.
Prompt 3: Freewrite -- At some point during or after your encounter with the natural world, write continuously for at least five minutes about that experience. Your writing may describe what you saw, what you thought or felt, or what you were reminded of. Don’t be afraid to make seemingly random or unusual connections -- let your writing trace the your stream of consciousness, wherever it may roam. Let the natural world be your starting point and follow where it leads.
Prompt 4: Point of View -- Choose one natural entity you saw and write from its point of view. You might, for example, take on the persona of a fish living near Linville Falls, a stalactite growing in Linville Caverns, or lichens clinging to the top of Grandfather Mountain. Your writing may take any form you wish -- it could be an internal monologue (i.e. thoughts), dialogue (with you or with another member of the natural world), a short story, a series of haikus, a free-verse poem, a skit, or anything else you can imagine. The key here is that you put yourself in the place of something else and see the world from its perspective.
[ Day 3 -- 10.18.2013 ]
Answer the following questions in your interactive notebook, using 5-7 complete, detailed sentences each:
What are your preconceptions about the Cherokee (i.e. when you close your eyes, what mental image do you have when you hear of a "Cherokee Reservation")?
Using complete sentences, list three things that you hope to learn about the Cherokee.
Why is it important to preserve different cultures as the world continues its process of globalization? Explain.
Read the following documents related to Cherokee history:
Read all sections of the History and Culture section of the Cherokee website. In the top menu bar, hover over "The People" > "History and Culture" > "Seven Clans."
Answer the following questions in your interactive notebook, using 5-7 complete, meaningful sentences each.
Were your preconceptions about the Cherokee right or wrong? What surprised you the most? Explain.
What aspect of Cherokee history do you find most interesting? Describe/explain it in detail. Why does this interest you?
How does what you read and saw fit in with what you read in the Burnett letter and “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor”?
The Cherokee are what Ishmael defines as a culture -- a group of people enacting a story. What is that story -- what reality are the Cherokee trying to create and preserve? How have other peoples and their stories impacted the Cherokee? Do you think the Cherokee have been successful in preserving their culture? Why or why not?
[ Day 1 -- 10.16.2013 ]
[ Day 2 -- 10.17.2013 ]
[ Day 3 -- 10.18.2013 ]